Miriam Leskovar Burkland, who joined Defrees & Fiske as an associate in 1981 and has been a member since 1989, concentrates her practice in general corporate and commercial law. Ms. Burkland has been Chairman of the firm's Associates Development Committee since 1992 and a member of the firm's Executive Committee since January, 2000.

Ms. Burkland represents businesses in negotiating and interpreting numerous types of contracts. She has extensive experience advising parties in the buying, selling, leasing and licensing of goods, both tangible and intangible, having drafted and negotiated equipment leases, purchase and sale contracts, software licenses on behalf of licensors and licensees, support agreements and consulting services contracts. She has negotiated distributor and sales representative agreements and terms and conditions of sale and purchase for vendors and buyers, as well as employment, joint venture and contract manufacturing agreements.

Ms. Burkland has significant experience in financial transactions, ranging from secured and nonrecourse loan facilities and leveraged lease transactions to sales and lease-backs and other credit arrangements. She advises businesses in their formative stages on matters such as the most appropriate choice of legal entity and qualification, and has represented corporations and individual stockholders in a variety of corporate matters, including stockholder option and buy-sell agreements, compensation structures for executives, confidentiality and non-compete agreements, shareholder agreements such as buy-sell agreements, and general corporate maintenance. Her practice requires careful attention to clients' business goals, as well as a broad understanding of the Uniform Commercial Code, especially Articles 2, 2A and 9, and general corporate law, principally the laws of Delaware and Illinois.

In addition to matters that arise during the normal course of business, Ms. Burkland has represented buyers and sellers in significant corporate acquisitions and sales, including asset and stock sale agreements. Her experiences range from the drafting and negotiation of definitive and closing agreements and documents, the conduct of extensive due diligence reviews, and attention to post-closing matters.

Ms. Burkland is a member of the Chicago Bar Association and has been active in the Chicago Bar Association's Commercial Law Committee. She assisted in the drafting of Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in the State of Illinois governing equipment leasing. She was named one of "Illinois Super Lawyers" in 2005 in the area of Closely Held Businesses.

She received a B.A. degree in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of Illinois-Urbana in 1978 and a J.D. degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1981.